Cancer patients protested at the IVSS headquarters in Caracas

• Protesters demand that the government guarantee the distribution of high-cost medicines | Reference photo

Relatives and cancer patients protested on Monday morning, July 8, in front of the Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS), in Caracas, to demand that the Venezuelan State distribute the drug Trastuzumab

Patients are also demanding that oncology services in the country’s public institutions be guaranteed to function properly.

“We can only prolong our lives with medication. They tell us to wait for the treatment to arrive, but we can’t wait. There are medicines that are impossible to buy and it’s devastating,” patient Zoramir Rangel told The Whistle.

The protesters, mostly women, said they do not have the resources to pay for the medicines they need for their health condition, so they hold raffles to obtain the income that will allow them to try to cover the treatment.

Those who attended carried signs with messages alluding to the need to want to live and that health is a human right. The women also repeated slogans demanding that the national government promote the provision of supplies to the IVSS.

#8Jul | A group of cancer patients and their families protested outside the main headquarters of the Venezuelan Social Security Institute, on the corner of Altagracia (Caracas), to demand that they be given the medicines they need to prolong their lives.… pic.twitter.com/Y08muwJq2h

— The Daily (@eldiario) July 8, 2024

What is Trastuzumab

Trastuzumab is a drug used to treat certain types of breast cancer. It is considered a targeted therapy treatment because it acts specifically on cancer cells that have an excess protein called HER2. Trastuzumab works by binding to the HER2 protein and blocking its ability to send signals that stimulate the growth and division of malignant cells.

Every day 10 women die from breast cancer in Venezuela

The Venezuelan Anticancer Society (SAV) reported in October 2023 that 10 women die from breast cancer every day in Venezuela. It is the main oncological disease affecting the female population.

The organization estimated that more than 8,600 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and 3,515 women die from the disease in the country.

Juan Saavedra, general manager of SAV, explained that most women who die from breast cancer are between 55 and 64 years old, so he noted that this indicator suggests that they die prematurely.

Mildred Varela, activist for the defense of the rights of cancer patients in Venezuela, has died

Photo: Javier Cedeño Caceres – The Daily

Mildred Varelaa health rights activist in Venezuela, died on June 28 due to cancer, which she had been battling since 2014.

Varela, 53, was the director of the Conquistando la Vida (Asociación Civil Conquistando la Vida) (Aconvida), which she founded in 2016 as part of her initiative to protest the lack of medicines for cancer patients in the country. The activist, also known for wearing a knitted hat on her head, had a daughter.

The woman attended protests to highlight the difficulties that women and other cancer patients face in combating this disease.

One of the most significant protests took place on May 31, 2016. Mildred Varela participated in a rally by the Coalition of Organizations for the Right to Health and Life that took place in Plaza Francia in Altamira (Caracas). There she protested once morest the need for the Venezuelan State to guarantee medicines in order to live with dignity.

“Not finding medicine is like someone putting a gun to your head and shooting,” said the activist following climbing onto a wall to be heard by the protesters.

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